Women's work at the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida

March 29, 2026 Loretta Chase

Photograph of a Georgia O'Keefe painting depicting a closeup of a poppy. — Georgia O’Keefe, “Poppy,” 1927

Here’s one more collection of art for you, in celebration of National Women’s History Month. While in St. Petersburg, I visited the MFA twice. On the second visit, I had time to focus on a special exhibition, “Creative Freedom | Women as Decorative Arts Entrepreneurs and Connoisseurs, c. 1900-1940.” In other words, the exhibit included splendid works of art by women as well as works collected by women. According to the museum’s website,

“The pioneering spirit of these women is the same spirit that built this museum. Our founder, Margaret Acheson Stuart (1898-1980), was a woman of this era, whose passion and independence created the legacy we all share.”

As you’ve no doubt noticed, when I take photos in museums, I try to include the information cards. It’s definitely a memory aid, and it’s particularly helpful when, as in this case, the museum does not have its collection online, and I can’t go back and gather information from their website. Also, with a plethora of photos, one can simply let the cards do most of the talking—not that anybody needs to read them to enjoy these beautiful works.

Unsurprisingly, the exhibit included Tiffany lamps and information about Clara Woolcott Driscoll and the Tiffany Girls.

Among other learning experiences, I discovered Marguerite Zorach and realized that a woman, Mariah Longworth Nichols Storer, founded Rookwood Pottery, which I’ve always loved (well, the names refers to ravens, after which I named one of my fictional heroes).

I also learned that it was a woman, Rose Cecil O’Neill, who created the Kewpie Doll and made a highly successful business with her invention. The rattles and teething rings were part of that business. This same woman created a number of works for the Suffragist Movement. The example below, of one of her postcards, is from the collection of the Missouri History Museum.

And finally, some impressive works in glass. The yellow vase deserved a 360° view. I apologize for the unsteadiness of my camera work.

Celebrating the Rocket Man, Robert Hutchings Goddard

March 15, 2026 Loretta Chase

Title page from Robert Goddard Biography, with note "Flown to the Moon on board APOLLO 11 July 16-24 1969, signed by Buzz Aldrin — Miniature Robert Goddard biography that went to the moon with Buzz Aldrin

On 16 March 1926, Dr. Robert Hutchings Goddard launched a rocket from his aunt’s farm (now a golf course) in a town a few miles from where I live.

The rocket did not go far in terms of physical distance. It shot up forty-one feet into the air and landed one hundred eighty-four feet away, having traveled for two and a half seconds.

That short flight changed everything.

In July 1969, the little book pictured above, a biography of Goddard, was the first book to travel to the moon. Astronaut Buzz Aldrin took it there.*

Artemis II, the first crewed flyby mission to the Moon in more than 50 years, is expected to launch in a few weeks, if all goes well.

In short, that brief flight started us on the path to the moon and beyond. It showed what was possible and led to more than space travel. But I’m not going to tell a story that others have covered. You’ll find abundant links, with wonderful images, online, that are part of the Goddard Centennial celebration. The images exist thanks to Goddard’s wife, Esther. She documented all he did and kept his memory alive. During Women’s History Month, of course it makes sense to recognize Esther Goddard. You can see many of Esther’s images online.

The Goddard Library is offering several exhibitions and two lectures. The latter will be available to view online, as well. On 17 March at 7PM, John Emond, former NASA program manager offers, “Robert Goddard: A Vision. A Reality. A Hope.” On 19 March at 4PM, Kevin Schindler, co-author of Robert Goddard's Massachusetts, offers “The Dreamer Who Launched the Space Age.”

You can learn more about Clark University’s Goddard Centennial events here.

Dr. Robert H. Goddard and a liquid oxygen-gasoline rocket at Auburn, Massachusetts.

If you’re in the Central Massachusetts area between now and 1 August, you can also visit the Museum of Worcester’s Goddard exhibition, “Worcester to the Stars: The Goddard Rocket Centennial.” If you’re around between now and early April, you might want to catch “The Rocket Man: The Robert Goddard Musical.”

More about Goddard celebrations here.

I’ll finish by pointing out that this celebration, which has gone nationwide, very likely would not have happened if not for my indefatigable friend, fellow alum, and former colleague at Clark, Charles Slatkin.

*A couple of years ago, I saw the little book up close and personal at the Robert Hutchings Goddard Library. This is a building with which I’m familiar, having studied there as an undergraduate and post-graduate student as well as having done research some years later for my historical romances.

Photo credit for miniature Goddard bio, Walter M. Henritze; Goddard and rocket image courtesy NASA via Wikipedia.

The Museum of the American Arts & Crafts Movement

March 7, 2026 Loretta Chase

The image shows five different Tiffany lamps — Tiffany lamps at the Museum of the American Arts & Crafts Movement

The Museum of the American Arts & Crafts Movement in St. Petersburg, Florida, is a fairly recent entrant on the local museum scene. It is also a spectacular one, starting with its spacious and modern—no, not Arts & Crafts style—building, which makes quite a showplace for this extensive collection.

This being Women’s History month, the majority of images I’m including are works by women. I’ll start with the Tiffany lamps. Not until the early part of the current century were we made aware of how much of this work was done by women, namely, Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Girls.

But Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Girls created more than lamps.

I thought the Medusa lamp designed by Elizabeth Eaton Burton (1869-1937) was pretty spectacular—and it was nice to get the inside view. The Grueby Faience Company, in Massachusetts, also made beautiful works. But I’ve kept those to a minimum, because some of you are probably thinking, Enough with the lamps already. Still, I would have taken more photos, but there was so much museum to see, and not enough time to see it all.

Well, I didn’t know that a woman ran the advertising agency J. Walter Thompson. The museum has Helen Ransdowne Resor as president when they moved into New York’s Graybar Building in 1927. Other sources refer to her as a vice president or manager. Clearly, she ran the creative side, whatever the title was. And how much more aesthetically pleasing was the office she and others worked in after the move. I loved that the museum recreated one of the offices, with the pebbled glass and Samuel Yellin’s beautiful ironwork.

There was a great deal more fine ironwork to be seen, as the background to this image makes clear, but I focused on this bronze heron by Marie Zimmerman.

Elizabeth Ethel Copeland, who also worked in the Boston area, created more of a medieval look with her enamel and metalwork.

And yes, I do like a pretty bathroom. Some years ago, I posted a series of photos, “Loos of London.” This one, done by the Grueby Faience and Tile Company (lamps aren’t all they made), I want in my house.

More tile work: Frederick Hurten Rhead’s peacock panels. Until I looked him up, after seeing these works, I didn’t know that he was the one who designed Fiesta ware. I began collecting in the 1970s, so ended up with some of the early stuff, but I didn’t collect to collect; I used it, and loved it. When the new ceramics came out in the 1980s, I bought those, too. Most of my collection is now in other households, but I retain a few of my favorite pieces.

More tile work, this time designed by Edward Burne-Jones, the last of the Pre-Raphaelite artists.

Unfortunately, I ran out of time, and didn’t make it to the graphics galleries. But I leave you with these very different but beautiful works by women artists Anna Marie Valentien and Adelaide Alsop Robineau.You can read a bit more about Valentien’s figural vase here at the museum site and the Metropolitan Museum (NYC) has a number of Robineau’s works online.

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